High stakes testing leads to cheating

It has been well documented that Washington DC schools, while being led by Michele Rhee engaged in widespread cheating of tests in order to artificially boost performances. Now a second large school district that employed high stakes testing to drive high stakes decisions has been found to have engaged in widespread cheating. This time in Atlanta Public Schools

State investigators have uncovered a decade of systemic cheating in the Atlanta Public Schools and conclude that Superintendent Beverly Hall knew or should have known about it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.

In a report that Gov. Nathan Deal planned to release today, the investigators name nearly 180 educators, including more than three dozen principals, as participants in cheating on state curriculum tests, officials said over the weekend. The investigators obtained scores of confessions.

Cheating was uncovered in 44 of 56 schools investigated involving 38 principals and 178 teachers - 82 of whom confessed to misconduct. The 2 page report, below, states:

Cheating was caused by a number of factors but primarily by the pressure to meet targets in the data-driven environment

Summary of APS cheating scandal

That same pressure will now exist in every school in Ohio as teachers pay and careers will be measured in large part by their students test results - tests that have proven to be unreliable for such uses.

Blockbuster revelations coming on charter schools

Wow.

An exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation has uncovered a money trail of Ohio tax dollars leading overseas that paid for illegal immigration fees and expenses associated with charter schools across the state.

Our investigation also reveals that the U.S. Department of Labor is investigating one charter school located in Cleveland for its use of so-called "H1-B visas" issued by the U.S. government for "highly trained" employees to work in the United States.

An extensive review of financial audits uncovered that in one case, the cash was finding its way to Istanbul, Turkey, where nearly $600,000 is winding up paying for monthly rent for a charter school back in Dayton.

In another case, thousands of tax dollars were paid for immigration and legal fees that auditors found were illegal.

In some instances, auditors found cash went to individuals who were never employed at any of the schools.